Ascent of Hunter Mountain on 2013-07-10

Ascent Trip Report

My wife, two daughters and I stopped at the Swiss Chalet Hotel in Tannersville, NY on our way down from Montreal, QC to Bayonne, NJ. We got up fairly early and drove to the trailhead. It was warm, humid and cloudy when we started hiking up. We followed the well marked trail to the summit ridge. Once on the ridge, I led the way to the left (to the south) thinking the ridge was going up that way and it was. So when we reached the high point, the four of us took turn at taking pictures. Then we headed north along the ridge trail because I had read about a fire tower and I figured it would be a good spot to have lunch.

Once at the fire tower, I realized that the high point was close by. We ate our sandwiches purchased in the morning at a wooden table. Then my two daughters and I climbed part of the way of the old fire tower while it started raining and the wind was picking up. We hide under the balcony of the fire warden hut while of the rain shower went by. One of my daughter spoted the 'summit rock'. We climbed on the rock where a star is engraved with 'ELV 4040 FT' in the rock. We took a ton of pictures and headed back to the car. We almost made it to the car before rain started again. We were quite wet when we reached the car. We took off our wet clothes and drove down to Bayonne NJ, our cruise departure port.

This hike was similar to some in the Adirondacks, but the evergreen forest started at a significantly higher altitude. We only met one other hiker during this workday hike. So, only Slide left in the Catskill to complete the 4000ers of New York State.